Stan & Ollie

After fame and fortune left the world-famous vaudeville comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy far behind, they embarked on a career-concluding tour of Great Britain. After a brief prologue introduces the duo making Way Out West (1937), Stan & Ollie flashes forward to 1953, when the pair are desperately trying to attract audiences, trotting out classic routines while playing to half-empty music halls in the hinterlands before winding up on London’s West End, eager to secure financing for a new Robin Hood spoof titled Rob ‘Em Good. Disgruntled but not discouraged, they turn to public relations stunts to sell tickets. In addition to Hardy’s persistent health problems, they constantly bicker, dredging up old grievances. Tenacious Stan (Steve Coogan) was always more driven, while easygoing Ollie (John C. Reilly)--a prolific gambler--was less ambitious. The eventual arrival of their respective wives--domineering Ida Laurel (Nina Arianda) and doting Lucille Hardy (Shirley Henderson)--only makes the situation worse as it becomes painfully obvious that while these funnymen can’t live with each other they also can’t live without one another. Oozing authenticity, Stan & Ollie--based on A.J. Marriot’s 1993 book Laurel & Hardy: The British Tours--is a poignant character study, confidently directed by Jon S. Baird. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a Q&A with the cast and crew (31 min.), deleted and extended scenes (11 min.), a “making-of” featurette (5 min.), and production segments on “Playful Prosthetics” (4 min.) and “The Dancing Duo” (4 min.). Bottom line: a solid extras package for this winning bio-pic.] (S. Granger)